The Acts of the Early Church
The Acts of the Modern Christian
Lloyd Ogilvie, the former United States Senate Chaplain, tells a story from his college days about sailing onboard the magnificent pleasure ship, The Queen Mary. This ship had a very storied history and he imagined what it must have been like to sail on her in what must have been her prime. She was built as a luxury vessel and made her maiden voyage in 1936, but from 1940 to 1947 she became a military troop ship. During World War…
Proclaim the Gospel!
We are at the end of this record of the work of the Holy Spirit in the church and as we see, it ends the way it began with an emphasis upon proclaiming the Gospel. As you read this I urge you to consider that our communion together, the taking of the Lord’s Supper of the bread and the cup, is an act of proclaiming the Gospel. Jesus said that as often as we do this we proclaim the Gospel…
The Influential Christian
When Jesus taught that His followers were the “salt of the earth and a light unto the world”, He pointed to the fact that we are called to influence this world. Our influence does not come because we are wealthy or because we are politically connected or because we are philosophically sophisticated. No, our influence flows from our intimate connection to the Lord God, the Maker of the heavens and the earth. We reside on this plain as His ambassadors…
Sovereign Over the Storm
The stories in Acts 27 and 28 described Paul’s journey to Rome. This has been Paul’s desire for some time, to get to Rome, but undoubtedly it was not under these circumstances as he is arrested and is a prisoner. He is going to stand trial before Caesar, but none-the-less he is excited about getting to Rome. God told him that he would get there and be able to proclaim the Gospel and encourage the church there. Max Lucado tells…
Almost Persuaded
The Bible teaches that not one of us would respond favorably to God if God did not, first, sovereignly and graciously draw us unto Himself. Jesus will say, in John 6:44, 44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him…” Jesus is teaching us that not one of us is “naturally” attracted to God and to His plan. No, we, by nature, are slavishly devoted to following our own plan. Left to ourselves we…
From Darkness to Light
In this study we see another story of Paul’s testimony of the work of God’s grace in his life. This is the third time that Luke will record Paul’s testimony in this record of Acts. Some may wonder why we would cover this a third time and the answer is because Luke did. There are some unique aspects that Luke brings out in this third presentation of Paul’s testimony and we are going to focus particularly on those. Paul is…
Responding Rightly to Opposition
When Steve Lindscott was a student at Emmaus Bible College in 1980, he had a strange dream. Later, when he learned that a nursing student in Oak Park had been murdered the night he had the dream, some friends encouraged him to go to the police and talk with them about the dream. The Oak Park police arrested him, interpreting his dream as a confession. Steve Lindscott was tried and was found guilty of murder and was sentenced to forty…
Salvation in Three Phases
At one Bible conference, seminary president Earl Rodmacher began his sermon in this vein, “Last night while I was listening to Chuck Swindoll preach I got saved and when I listened to Tony Evans this morning I was saved two more times. I hope before I finish this message that I am to preach today that I will be saved at least one more time.” What did Dr. Rodmacher mean? Was Dr. Rodmacher suggesting that a person could loose their…